


The Banter Experiment

by AsagiStilinski



Series: Yugioh Advent 2018 [5]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Banter, Fluff, Implied Rough Sex, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Rivalry, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Yami Yuugi | Atem has his own body, implied bottom Atem, implied top Yugi, yugioh advent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2018-12-05
Packaged: 2019-09-12 16:43:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16876461
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AsagiStilinski/pseuds/AsagiStilinski
Summary: Yugi begins to wonder if he and Atem should banter more, their freinds seem to have no shortage of good-natured (er.. mostly...) arguing in their relationships, so it can't hurt to try, right?Atem, who would happily die for Yugi's happiness, puts up no protest in obiliging





	The Banter Experiment

**Author's Note:**

> Day five of Yugioh Advent- "Banter"
> 
> I just love how cute Puzzleshipping is and that they're always supporting eachother and lifting eachother up, when I tried to think of them actually bantering, it didn't quite work as it usually would

"I can't believe I lost again..." Seto growled lowly, his teeth clenched, nose wrinkled, a look of utter _disdain_ on his face as he glared down at his duel disk

"Why not? Ya've lost every other time ya've dueled 'Tem or Yugi, ya' oughtta be used to it by now," Joey snickered, a bright grin on his face as the holograms faded and Atem's duel disk returned to standby position

"And if I recall correctly, everytime I duel _you_ I win, I'd offer to duel you now, but I'm tired of picking low hanging fruit," the brunette huffed as he removed his deck from his disk

"What'd' you say't' me Rich Boy!? I would've come in SECOND in Battle City if Marik hadn't cheated! Hell I might've even won!"

"Seriously Wheeler, even _you_ can't be delusional enough to actually believe that,"

"Now look here you dragon-festishin'-"

"Guys, guys... can we please not do this today? It's the holidays, can't the fighting take a break?" Yugi sighed, shaking his head slowly

"I'm not even sure if you can call it 'fighting' at this point Yugi, it's more like _foreplay_ to these two.... even more of a reason for them to stop," Duke commented as he twirled some dice around listlessly

They had come to this good-natured miniature tournament of Kaiba's so that he could test out a new layout for his upcoming tournament, and although things had been fun at first, the last duel between Atem and Seto had taken almost two hours and everyone else was, reasonably, pretty tired

"Hey, that ain't-"

"Whatever, Yugi, if you and the pharaoh will hurry up and duel already then we can declare a winner and move on with our lives," Seto mused blandly

"Oh hell no, don't put us through _that_ again!" Joey nearly shouted

"Agreed, as much um... _fun_ as it was watching you guys, it was also ... well, it took a _long_ time..." Tea` added anxiously

"Wusses, I want to see them duel, their's is the only match I care to witness that doesn't in some way involve me," Seto snipped

Atem and Yugi were quiet for a moment, exchanging glances

They hadn't dueled against eachother since the Ceremonial Duel, and that had been for a pretty good reason

Neither of them were exactly _thrilled_ with the idea of doing it again, reliving those terrible memories....

In fact, though Yugi couldn't speak for Atem, it personally made him sick to his stomach just to think about

"Um.... actually, I'm good, I'd rather just go to dinner," the smaller duelist noted

"As would I," Atem agreed with a quick nod

"Then shall we call it a draw?"

"Draw, excellent,"

Seto looked like he was either about to puke, or roll his eyes so hard that they would actually fall out of his head

"You two are _sickening_ ,"

"Well I'm sorry that not all couples have the constant need for banter that you and Joey have," Atem mused with a slight snicker, a smirk resting on his face

"Firstly, it isn't a 'constant need', secondly, a little banter wouldn't kill the two of you, and thirdly, what we do isn't 'banter', it's me telling Wheeler the truth and Wheeler rebuking it,"

"Why in the hell am I datin' you again?" Joey grumbled in irritation

"Good sex," Seto replied simply, closing his deck box and adjusting his coat

"Oh yeah..."

"See what I'm talking about?" Duke mused, putting his dice back in his pocket and turning his attention towards the duelists once more

" _Foreplay_ ,"

 

~+~

 

"Hey... Atem, do you think Kaiba was right earlier?"

"Right about what, aibou?" Atem asked curiously, setting a small plate of cookies down in front of his partner and leaning close to give him a kiss

"About needing to banter more, I mean.... couples do seem to do that alot, he and Joey seem pretty happy, and so do Tristan and Duke, and they all banter alot,"

"Well.... I suppose they do, though I don't think it's entirely necessary to have a happy and healthy relationship, I wouldn't mind giving it a try if you'd like to, whatever makes you happy Yugi,"

"You do know that your happiness matters too, don't you Pharaoh?"

Ah... Yugi only called him that when he was being _particularly_ serious....

"I know, I know," he chuckled, wrapping his arms around his lover, trying to dissuade him from dwelling on this any longer

"Shall we play a game then partner? What better place to develop some banter, hm?"

"Sure, just um... anything but Duel Monsters, ok?"

"Fair enough, how is checkers then? Nothing too serious or involved, just a fun competition between lovers,"

"I can do that," Yugi smiled brightly, pecking Atem on the nose and deciding to start off their little banter experiment

"You're going down Sweetheart," he said in the best Tough And Confident voice that he could manage

"Is that an offer?" Atem beamed with excitement, his eyes lighting up as he leaned in closer

"A-Ah.. no, not.. not now, let me rephrase that," the smaller duelist stuttered out quickly, wincing when he saw how his partner's face fell

"I promise, later, just.... what I meant to say was, you're going to lose, because... I'm going to defeat you, that's what I meant,"

"I'm sure you will, I may have been the King Of Games in my lifetime, but it's quite clear that you could best me on any occasion my darling,"

Atem looked so innocent and honest when he said that too... it was almost _sad_

"Oh.. Atem... that's sweet but you're supposed to banter back, remember?"

"O-Oh, yes, well then.... prepare for the battle of your life, Yugi! I will rip the pants off of you!"

"I think you mean _beat_ the pants off," Yugi laughed, unable to restrain the amusement in his tone as Atem's face started turning red

"Oh... that too,"

"'That too' huh?"

"Yes, I will rip your pants off after I beat them off,"

"Mou Hitori that doesn't make any sense," Yugi chuckled, leaning down to give him a soft kiss on the forehead

Atem merely sighed, a longing expression on his face as he fell backwards and gently but firmly dragged Yugi onto his lap

"I apologize aibou, this isn't going very well... I just find it so difficult to do anything but praise you for your excellence,"

" _My_ excellence? Atem, _you're_ the excellent one in this relationship,"

Atem looked utterly and sincerely shocked by that, his mouth falling open and everything as he reached up to wrap his arms around his lover

"Yugi, I haven't the foggiest idea of why you're saying this, _you_ are undeniably the most excellent person I can so much as imagine, I realize that you're trying to be sweet to me- and you're succeeding- but-"

"It has nothing to do with being sweet, I'm being _serious_ Atem, you're the most intelligent, talented, kind, sweet-"

"These are all things describing _you_ Yugi,"

Yugi was frowning

Atem was frowning

For a moment, they were both silent, before Yugi's face suddenly softened, a smile on his lips as he reached up and started combing his fingers through his hair

"Mou Hitori No Boku.... if you aren't prepared to believe me on your own... then I guess I'm just going to have to _prove_ my point, now aren't I?"

"With the utmost respect, my darling, it is _I_ who will be proving the truth to _you_ ,"

They never did end up playing checkers

 

~+~

 

"Holy crap.... what the hell happened to you two!?" Joey nearly shouted, his jaw practically on the floor as he stared at the pair walking towards him

....

Well, Yugi was walking, Atem was _limping_

But they both looked _incredibly_ happy all the same

"Yugi won," Atem mused simply

"A game? Ya' look like ya' just won the lottery from a _game_? Even _you_ ain't _that_ competitive," the blonde asked skeptically, watching as Yugi wrapped his arm around his lover's waist before smirking up at his freind

"We bantered,"


End file.
